Role Stress and Emotional Exhaustion Among Health Care Workers: The Buffering Effect of Supportive Coworker Climate in a Multilevel Perspective

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between role stress, emotional exhaustion, and a supportive coworker climate among health care workers, by adopting a multilevel perspective. Methods: Aggregated data of 738 health care workers nested within 67 teams of two Italian hospitals were collected. Multilevel regression analysis with a random intercept model was used. Results: Hierarchical linear modeling showed that a lack of role clarity was significantly linked to emotional exhaustion at the individual level. At the unit level, the cross-level interaction revealed that a supportive coworker climate moderated the relationship between lack of role clarity and emotional exhaustion. Conclusion: This study supports previous results of single-level burnout studies, extending the existing literature with evidence on the multidimensional and cross-level interaction associations of a supportive coworker climate as a key aspect of job resources on burnout.